Green Lakers will be the first to tell you our area bike trails are simply beautiful: Ride past the lake, rolling greens of golf courses and through wooded area of various wild life.

Even with the beauty, biking can still take a toll on the body. During May, Evensong Spa will offer two massages created specifically to help riders train and recover efficiently and effectively. These services were created by Evensong Spa’s Lead Massage Therapist, Crystal Toll, who came up with the ideas to complement Heidel House Resort’s and Green Lake Greenways’ upcoming ride, Gear Up Green Lake.

Crystal tells us more about these services:

Well, first there was the name. Recovery had already been mentioned to use as the name for post-event massage. However, knowing these riders spend weeks preparing, we also wanted to offer a massage for pre-event.

As I was trying to come up with a clever name for the pre-Gear Up Green Lake massage, I kept thinking, “Get ready, get ready, get ready,” but just could not seem to come up with a word to express that.

Finally, after a few long hours of this thinking, it came to me in the office: And I shouted, “Readiness!” Relieved we now had the name, I began thinking about what these massages would entail.

I wanted to create one massage that would be highly beneficial for both pre- and post- bike ride. I also wanted it to be something unique and different. With that being said, in October, Evensong Spa launched the Heated Bamboo Massage. This massage has definitely been my “baby,” from having to learn about the natural benefits of bamboo and figuring out where to purchase the bamboo massage tools to learning how to heat the bamboo tools and choreographing the massage to teach it to our massage team.

Since launching this massage, it has been very successful and has become one of our guests’ favorites. It is simply something different and unique. And this is how the bamboo immediately came to mind to incorporate into the Readiness and Recovery Massages. Bamboo tools work great for two main massage techniques: Tapotement and Compression.

Tapotement is extremely efficient in revitalizing sore and tired muscles, making it a great technique to use on athletes, especially those who have just completed a sporting event, such as a bike ride. Compressions create deep hypremia as well as a softening effect in the tissues. The Readiness and Recovery Massages consist mostly of using the bamboo tools to perform these techniques.

Light stretching and relaxation techniques are also incorporated. Mediums used in these massages include sore-muscle oil, which contains peppermint, eucalyptus, lemon, lime, rosemary, and camphor, and bio freeze, applied throughout the massage as a spot treatment in concentrated areas of tension.

Basically, these massages are very specific and focus directly on the target muscles used during biking. I truly believe these will be memorable massages for Gear Up Green Lake riders because of the uniqueness of the bamboo and stretching, but also because the riders are receiving trained help to prepare and to recover. Taking good care of our guests is the forte of our highly-trained massage team at Evensong Spa, and I believe creating these sorts of specialized services shows how much we care for the well-being of others.